 Hey good evening and welcome to Montpelier Civic Forum 2022 and we're preparing for town meeting day on the 1st and we're having candidates we're talking about the issues we're talking about the capital budget we're talking about the school budgets we're talking about parks cemeteries and even the safety authority and tonight we have a school board candidate Will Alexander has come to visit welcome thank you Richard thanks for having me Will why are you running for the school board why that is that is a thankless task it is I've got I've got sort of two tracks of reasons there's the gut instinct reasons and the practical ones like the most basic answers that I've got kids in the district I've got one child in the elementary school one in the middle school the health and well-being of the schools and the school system are a point of immediate importance but it's also it's also very much part of my career I mean I I teach here well we're on campus right now we're out at VCFA and I teach at the Vermont College program for writing in writing for children and young adults I was until recently I just finished up a a term as faculty chair of that program and it's an amazing program I mean it's the oldest and best of its kind what sense it the first graduate program in specifically focused on and devoted to writing for young audiences so you would find classes and maybe a concentration in that in other graduate programs other writing programs but a whole program a whole degree program devoted just to that is this was the first when did you write your first book when it came out I wrote it over several years in a messy rambling process but it came out in 2012 so so I've been a novelist for officially for ten years what was the book about it's a it's a fancy novel it's for middle grade audiences so you know 8 to 12 it says 8 to 12 on the cover and it's a fancy book about a goblin theater troupe so sort of you know fancy Muppet show kind of book I was in theater way back when and then I I wanted to pour everything I knew and loved about theater into a book it did okay I mean it this is still weird to say out loud but it it won the National Book Award that year so so I got what is the National Book Award and how does it differ from the cult the Caldecott or the newberry or the three awards what are the awards and the people okay the big awards the big awards in children's literature or the Caldecott in the newberry and they are I mean the two most thing and they are judged by librarians they're they're one of two of the many big magnificent awards that ALA hands out every year and I being a of the American Library Association the the National Book Award is distinct from the from a lot of the other big awards in in American letters in that the judges almost all of the judges are other writers most of the children's literature awards are judged by librarians because I mean and they very much know what they're talking about the National Book Awards in every category are judged primarily though not entirely by other writers other writers in the children's field or just other writers other other writers in that category so in in my category yes they were other children's book writers Susan Cooper was one of them Gary Schmidt I've judged it since now in 2012 mm-hmm you look back it's decade now yeah how does that book read to you now well I haven't read it recently my kids seem to like it which is nice it's I'm proud of it I'm proud of I'm proud of what it has apparently accomplished and it reads I mean I may okay the author who here we go here's my answer the author who shaped my brain more than anyone else when I was that age when I was 11 years old and we're we're so often writing for we're writing the books we needed then we're writing we're writing for what we needed at that age and the author who shaped my brain more than anyone else when I was 11 was Ursula K. Le Guin and you're aiming high yeah I mean always and she is and we lost her in in 2018 and and she was a friend and mentor and something she she kept returning to throughout her magnificent career was the idea that fantasy is it's important for many reasons foundationally because it bites nature offers an alternative to the way things are it it proves that things do not have to be the way they are and simply by playing out that imaginative exercise that spending time with dragons it requires that we imagine a different world and those mental muscles are necessary to create a different world to to never get stuck in the assumption that the way things are however they are is the way that they have to be and so that's one of the that is one of the great strengths of fantasy in any in any medium in any form or subgenre it is necessary and we're hungry for it we're always hungry for it we're especially hungry for it when the world is in various ways terrible because it helps us imagine alternatives and then helps us create those alternatives how many books followed that book so far I've got six out in the world are they all for middle school yes they are all middle grade they all say 8 to 12 on the cover are they all fantasy based or some are science fiction none of them are realism I am incapable of realism I've tried ghosts show up every time it's have you experienced districts that don't like the notion of science fiction occasionally or parents who feel that science fiction is inappropriate from time to time we have those conversations I mean not too often because usually the people who ask me to come speak are the ones who like what I'm doing but but I'll have I'll have healthy debate with with a different stance on the value of different modes of storytelling for kids as a chair of the department that's helping people to author those books you become somewhat of an authority I suppose and the book wars the book wars um which in a way brings us back to school boards okay would you it's how do you counsel people to avoid the book wars or do you counsel people how do I counsel on those on those topics I do I mean I've counseled many students who are who are embarking on controversial subject matter or what would be a controversial subject matter well at the moment I mean any the books currently being banned um thankfully knock on wood not nearby but um but in in the national news a part of the national debate in which school boards and school libraries come up there there have been a number of book bannings lately notably Art Spiegelman's mouse was banned in Tennessee would you explain what mouse is about I know what it's about but there might be people who don't mouse is a graphic novel I believe the first well graphic memoir technically it is it is nonfiction I believe it was the first to win the Pulitzer the first in its medium the first book of its kind to win the Pulitzer prize it is a memoir of the Holocaust and of the author's father's experience as a survivor of the Holocaust in Germany it's also it is factual in content but fantastical in in its art form in that characters are portrayed as animals are drawn as animals and principally what animals mice well the Nazis are cats and Jews are portrayed as mice and mouse in German MA US is the title what are people objecting to oh hmm they're on its surface the charge is supposedly obscenity there obscenity in a different way than the death of six million people there's a little bit of nudity and apparently that's a problem that's I mean I have my doubts about whether that's actually the reason there's broadly speaking when you look at the books the totality of the books the dozens and dozens of books there's a document put together by local politicians in Texas of a spreadsheet of many many many books being challenged in schools there are very clear common threads what would those be in your opinion books books that give a history of oppression of any kind of persecution of any kind American history questions about I mean about the Civil War in particular the history of people of color primarily in the United States books by or about black people constantly banned constantly pulled constantly taken off the shelves and forcibly removed from curriculums books by or about queer people LGBTQ people constantly banned pulled from shelves either loudly or quietly removed from where students can find them and this is recently become increasingly less subtle I mean it was never subtle but it's it's getting less and less subtle in its blatant targeting of particular voices particular demographics if a parent were to come to our library our librarian or to the school board to come to Libby to our superintendent and say I don't want my child accessing this book that's in the library now we're not talking about any child we're only talking about my child as a school board member how would you address that what council would you give Libby what council would I give Libby well this is okay complicated question because and I have a lot of faith in this there's it wouldn't be up to me in any individual solo way like there are there is a whole community and a whole professional institution in place of the school librarians and the schools and mutual support and and if we're not talking about the general population at the middle school okay we're talking about my child don't want my child to have access to that if that if that person were to appear at the school board what would you say that sounds like an issue between them and their child okay and that if as with any other if you would prefer your child to not watch a particular TV show that is a family issue and that is an issue of parenting and that's an issue of boundaries to be discussed with your child and enforced as best you can but there's there's a very important principle at work generally your rights end where mine begin could you elaborate on that please once your rights end where mine begin your once your sense of your rights begins to intrude on other people and begins to have consequence for the people begin to restrict other people I mean if I choose to be a vegetarian for ethical reasons I don't have any say on what your lunch is there are a number of ethical spheres where my rights end where yours start and the moment you try and take books away from anybody else the moment you start pulling books off of school libraries or removing them from classrooms or forcing teachers to take them out of the curriculum that's that is a horrific line that is many of our worst moments included that impulse as a symptom could you imagine the school board supplementing material not taking the books away and let's go to history for instance we're using history books that are widely used across the United States and are purchased I suppose based on California Texas those things when the book when parents were if parents were to come to the school board and say that the depiction of Texas history is inaccurate you know it just that particular depiction is inaccurate would you see the school board asking that supplementary materials be provided to our teachers that would make this are we going to deconstruct history in order to make it more representative to our community is that where we're going we are always doing that there's no avoiding that I mean just generally we're we are always re-examining history and noticing what has been left out but the books are static not always there are new additions of the books I mean this is this isn't like at the moment this is a screaming match in many parts of the country thankfully I have not heard screaming here so so a lot of this is very very hypothetical um but this is uh this is always a conversation what what we focus on when we tell our history and what we leave out um and what we do deliberately and what we do unconsciously and what have we been doing unconsciously when we bring that to our conscious attention um we're always doing that that is that is the business of teaching history talking about history um making sense of where we came from so we're never not doing that and we should be doing that we should always be doing that and that's and we're always doing that as a community as as a town as a city as a as a state as a nation as a world um what what should we focus on when we consider our identity over time um is a huge question and we're never not doing that um and the school board has a role in in that as it plays out in schools um but it's part of a it's part of a much bigger conversation well school board actually has a committee on that called the district-wide visioning committee indeed are you following the district-wide visioning committee at all I am broadly from a distance um I do know some of the people working on it um I think it's important work what would you do if if you were put on that what what would you bring to the table um the first thing I would do is listen because this is um this is a group this is a committee this is um a group of people working together as a team so I don't like the role I'm running for isn't a leadership role um it is well in a sense it is in a sense it is um in in terms of the whole community yes but it's uh um you know I'm not running for school board president um I'm I'm joining this group of people that cares very passionately about this so the first and most important duty the first thing I would do would be to listen to everyone else on the committee everybody else on the board and and I know this is increasingly a priority for the school board in a really positive way just listening to the community I mean they've been um doing really excellent work in finding new ways to hear the community and to hear the community concerns um so that's a long way of saying the first thing I would do is listen um then what I would bring to that table is um knowledge of the book world knowledge of children's publishing knowledge of fiction and nonfiction I mean my particular specialty is fiction but as I mean as faculty chair the former faculty chair of um of this program I've had to stay abreast of children's publishing and children's writing in every genre um which includes history books which includes textbooks where did you live before Mount Pylir I lived well for a while in Minneapolis which is um another another locus of children's writing there are a lot of great um writers and children's book writers as well as theater as well as theater it's fantastic theater town it's a really good restaurant town and music town um it's a good town Minneapolis is is is a great town um and I was there we went out there um for my wife's master's program and we stayed for several years um and but I have bounced all over the place I mean I've lived I was born in Miami I've lived every which place um but your wife has Vermont roots she does her father's her father's Vermont her um though now lives is her mother's from Montreal and her parents now live in Montreal um what made you choose Mount Pylir what was your first impression of Mount Pylir oh I love this town um it I chose Mount Pylir because Vermont College is here um and this is this is where I teach this is where this is where this is where my career is led me um how old were your children when you moved to Mount Pylir young very young um two and five yes two and five um so they've both been through the school district starting in kindergarten um they both had mrs mellow as a kindergarten teacher what was your impression of union um when you came here and at two and five I loved it every every time what was the strength of union to you I well initially just the reputation of it I mean we knew we were moving to the area generally but um because of the college because being you know being close to the college was the goal um but were we were we gonna be in this district was an open question and one of the first things as moving could you find a place yeah exactly could we find a place um and that was the search that was a long search um and did we want to be in the district um and the the question there was the schools was like we were coming here with young kids what are the schools like and I heard nothing but good things about what were you hearing about the schools um from the outside from the outside um and from friends who are already in town and and their kids had gone through um god what were the specifics I remember the glow I remember the just the all the schools are great like that was that was just a general this the schools are great people are there they're well run the teachers are amazing um there's a lot of community support for the schools um and the community involvement is very high um and the teachers are outstanding now you're in it you you've gone through with one child through union you're in you're in msms right now um what's the strength of union now that you've been a parent and you've sat and gone to the parents conferences you've gone through the entire experience what is the strength of union elementary from that perspective how do I pick just one um well right now in the middle of constant crisis right right and upheaval um I'd say they like the strength is how I mean how do I even distill this quality um nimble adaptable flexible able to the the adaptability the strength of being able to roll with astonishingly volatile circumstances and maintain focus on the students and what they need and making sure that they get what they need um what's the curricular strength of union from your parents perspective the curricular strength yeah is it math is it humanities is it science um I've been oppressed across the board um I I have I mean my my own expertise being what it is I um I'm particularly focused on reading and a love of reading a love of discovery a love of narrative regardless of where that sense of narrative is applied I mean for me at least everything is story and and what impresses me most is which I've seen which I've seen in every teacher is a really strong sense of narrative that communicating the story of why something is important um communicating the story in the context and and and the kids role the students role in their own stories and the stories that they're building and the stories that they're participating in um there's a very strong narrative sensibility um to the teachers that I've always appreciated for kids who are behind or learning disabled or whatever do you the sense that that union is really out there for them in the best way that it could be every year when you get your test results the school board comes back and says we really need to do a better job with our low-income kids or and our kids who are behind and the like with COVID the kids who are behind probably got really behind yes what are your thoughts on how to get those kids who are really behind back up to merely not only merely being you know a little behind but getting them up towards that that median I think it is always about I mean your first question was are we doing the best that we can um we probably are you know um no I well we probably are but also we never are we're never there's always something better there's always I think we're doing it I think the schools are amazing um there's always we can always learn and change and grow we can always improve we can always like realize that we've that something has just been a horrible oversight that there are things we should be addressing that we haven't been there's always that possibility um so um like so from that perspective we're never doing the absolute best that we can um there's there's always going to be room for improvement and and finding that out and supporting it um is always a role of of any of anyone working in any school administration role um these helping kids helping kids who have been particularly affected by by the pandemic or the structure of the schools who whose needs have not been met who educational needs have not been met um the role is just is understanding that context I mean not leaping to too quick a conclusion aha you're struggling you need this I mean maybe not like if you if you run in with a quick diagnosis um and a quick prescription then that might that might anything hasty like that might be an inadequate understanding of the needs of that that student that context where they're at how um what they need to move forward in their education so just more effort um research listening talking to parents talking to the community reading the studies reading and all of a lot of this is new the actual consequences of the pandemic on students developmentally is something we're going to be studying for decades but what do we what do we understand of that so far and how can we address it is going to be a constant question how does the school district best communicate not with you but with me with the community of people who do not have kids in school anymore whose kids went through our public schools who aren't sitting on the school board for the most part how do you best communicate with those people who aren't showing up at the meetings who are watching this who are watching this um well doing this um and uh and and outreach is important in improving communication between the board and the the schools um and the district is really important and a big priority um and as i mentioned earlier the board is already doing this i mean they're already there are listening sessions there are there is predominantly parents which are predominantly parents um but there is outreach there is outreach and communication um i mean this right here um like talk um getting in front of the camera getting on the radio getting um doing interviews um doing news stories getting the newspaper um being upfront and transparent about what we're doing and why we think it's important um is always part of the job it's always part of the task we gained 14 students last year uh we're unions supposed to lose students Montpelier high school will actually gain some but it's going to peak in 25 that's what the budget projects okay yes what do we do i mean how do we stay uh short of um savings pastor picking up people picking up housing perhaps at the elks club picking up housing how do we keep a district afloat like this with half teaching positions and the like that's the big question um there's no one answer to it it is and there are weirder factors at play now than than there have ever been the the pandemic um the funding the emergency funding that only comes with the pandemic i mean there are the budgets and the logistical considerations um are more in flux and with more factors than is usual in a given academic year um so how there i don't have one answer to that question and i don't believe that there is any one answer to that question um i think the best way to address that um those shifting numbers shifting dynamics and a whole domino cascade of logistical challenges that come with it um there are also opportunities always um with any of those shifting dynamics and the role of any new member of the school board um is the junior member yeah the junior member um will be to listen and engage with everybody else who's been you know neck deep in it so far um and just find out what's possible and that i mean that kind of work while while i don't have an answer to that specific question because i'm not in it yet um that kind of work is the work that i have been doing for years i mean as working here at the college um the pandemic had a very big effect on um the structure of our program what we were able to do what we had been doing how and adaptation um shifting to the shifting the structure of our program and and how to ensure that we were still able to get our students what they needed um given wildly different circumstances um that's what i've spent most of the past that's what everyone in education wherever they are has spent the past couple years doing um and that's what i've been doing here at the college um and so that work that constant logistical reassessment what what do we have what are the resources what are the limitations what are the challenges and what has changed in the past 24 hours that changes all of those things um how do we adjust how do we adapt um that's that's what i've been doing that's what the schools here have been doing um that's what regardless of who is on the school board um whether i am or not i know that that's what the board will continue to do um the board has kind of dodged the issue we're seeking efficiencies the board is always seeking efficiencies in this district they've dodged the issue of of Roxbury the school in Roxbury there was an agreement when we did the merger that we would revisit whether that micro school would stay a micro school tell me more about dodging the issue i want to know what you mean by that before i well that's never really come to the fore as to what should happen to that there's been discussion i've heard discussion of a magnet school up there perhaps that would try and attract families that want um a different kind of elementary school education interesting yeah perhaps like a Montessori style that we could pick up more kids but that school has very very few students in it would you be in favor of opening that discussion realizing that rocks that's part of the identity of Roxbury the town is in that school okay broadly i am always in favor of conversation and discussion always um i think first and foremost that conversation has to be with Roxbury but they're part of a larger union now they are now part of a larger union um i do know that the policy committee um in the school board has been examining each policy and finding a number of outdated policies um and bringing them in line with um the structure of the district that now includes Roxbury um and and making sure that that Roxbury as part of the district is more part of the the fabric and the policies and the what and what governs the district um that that that integration is more consciously um and thoughtfully made um um so i know that so i don't believe that they've dodged the issue of Roxbury i think the issue of Roxbury being part of the district is part of the constant daily work of the board right now um that said is is Roxbury going to become something else something interesting some i mean of course they're interesting something something like a Montessori school something like a magnet school is that are those possibilities something that Roxbury is interested in um that we are able to for the better for the entire district it comes back to again the entire district versus that identity issue at that school and Roxbury is not the only town that has that issue of no they're not school that defines identity they're not but you know that that's what i was asking it's a partnership and like as with any partnership it is it is not for one partner to dictate what the other should do um but the partnership is a whole thing it is a complete district um and and so what what we are able to build together that best serves the students is something i am not as only a potential board member um and as a someone who lives in Montpelier and not Roxbury i am reluctant to make any pronouncements about what Roxbury should or should not do do you feel that the uh pulling of the school resource officer was the correct decision by the board yes and i was on the committee that examined that issue do you believe that in case of a school shooter in the elementary school without the kids knowing anyone in the police department not having that central figure there that that would be as safe as having a central figure let's get into it um the school resource officer um um i was on i was brought into the subcommittee of the school board the school safety and police relations committee i served on that committee and worked closely with the school board in 2020 and 2021 um that's probably my primary qualification for serving on the school board proper is that i spent that time um working on this committee of the school board and researching precisely this issue and what we found was and this is this is the connection everybody makes directly having having police and school shootings and well that's the ultimate tragedy that's that is that is and that is the that is the most visceral fear that is the most like anything anything that makes schools safer when confronted with the possibility of school shootings like all parents want that um it's on studying the issue um having an s ro does not protect a school from school shootings and we have that from every study and we have that from what does the test schools from school separate question but we're asking about okay s ro's and we have that from our own police department um we have that from our former police chief uh we have that from chief pete who's our current police chief who who very clearly said that protection from school shootings um is not the reason to have an s ro it is it is not what was the reason for having an s ro there were a lot of reasons to creating the position um was in many ways a knee jerk response to columbine it had was directly connected to school shootings um what we have found since then is that i mean many many tragedies and shootings at schools have occurred in schools that have a police officer present on camp when in florida that did there's too many to count um so it does not have a preventative effect um we have found that and this was really important this is okay this is very very important um that what we found in studying the issue was that having a police officer on campus um and also we had we had a police officer who was bouncing between i was just about to say they were on one campus all day long yeah they were not they were not so there wasn't that constant presence um also we found that there wasn't necessarily consistency in terms of um if if a child who is a student in the district was through whatever unfortunate circumstance um encountered law enforcement the law enforcement officer they encountered was not necessarily the s ro even in cases where the issue at hand happened on a particular campus there wasn't necessarily this consistency this one face this one familiar um face of law enforcement um so that i mean that was often presented as an argument in favor of the position it wasn't really the reality that our community had encountered so far um but setting that aside this is this is the issue this is the single most important reason um the evidence was unequivocal that the presence of an s ro on a school campus causes inadvertent harm regardless i'll define that regardless of the conduct of the officer um one of the reasons the debate was so heated and charged was on the news every night we were seeing police brutality i mean we were seeing horrible police brutality many of it at schools we were seeing students um bullied and by officers in schools all over the country um i mean this the summer of 2020 we saw my old town my neighborhood on fire um we saw george floyd die so that was what came as a reaction to column by left as a reaction no george floyd no that was the super heated moment and and everyone was saying rightly those things aren't happening here we're not responding to like there are no like no one has youtube footage of horrible police brutality in a montelior school so why is this an issue here was the question and what studies have shown consistently is that the mere presence of a badge and a gun on campus even when the conduct of the officer in question is exemplary has an inadvertent intimidating effect so we saw that brian were to agree not to have the gun if the gun were left in the principal's office would that have been all right um we actually asked that question of and our at our former i know brian said that he wouldn't accept that no he said a police officer is armed in the united states a police officer is armed so if you want a police officer on campus that they will be armed um and they were wearing a vest actually and they're i mean they are in their capacity as police officer so the question was do we want to need a police officer on campus and it's in every step vermont legal aid has studied this for years particularly the disability law project at vermont legal aid and they put out a really important study in 2015 about the consequences of this the consequences of having a police officer on campus and the consequences for particular demographics for kids with disabilities um for students of color for lgbtq students um the consequences are devastating and there is a constant the mere presence of a badge and a gun on campus um given the history of law enforcement in this country with particular demographics um knowing that history there is it is intimidating it is and okay just as a metaphor but let's look at it this way um i mean i have i have back problems i had spinal surgery a while ago so a common question if you've got a serious back injury is you know surgery or physical therapy um and many of the conversations around the presence of law enforcement on campus excuse me blessings start with many of the we're very um are very very similar in uh that reminded me a great deal of the um like do you go the surgical route for a problem that you're having do you like a more drastic and decisive intervention um or do you do physical therapy do you strengthen other things um and having having a police officer patrolling the schools which when the program was originally created was um it's in the language of the charter that created the SRO position in the city of Montpelier that they would be watching for potential delinquency so it was it grew into something more community service minded but its original intent was just um policing kids all the time in their place of learning looking for potential infractions um that has a very bad effect on someone's ability to learn let me let me go a slightly different direction but i'm gonna finish my medical metaphor um so having a it was like having a surgeon at the physical therapy studio like you're going to do sit-ups and to strengthen your core muscles and to avoid surgery and there's a man with a scalpel and a surgical mask watching you now surgeons help people they spend their entire careers learning how to help people so to say that that not is not conducive to the environment of physical therapy is not to say anything bad about surgeons and doctors um but it is a drastic intervention that shouldn't simply be hovering um we found much the same thing with the presence of a police officer on schools it has a chilling effect on the ability of students certain vulnerable demographics of students in particular their ability to learn how do those students learn to relate to the police that is a much bigger question we've been asking is that a responsibility of the schools to sit for elementary school kids for all elementary school kids is it a responsibility of the schools to get these kids to meet with the police in a non-threatening way so that when the police are needed these kids won't be afraid to approach the police short answer if the police have a public relations problem in the united states that is not the school's responsibility to solve nor is the school able to solve it it is this responsibility of the schools is to the students if there is something that the schools are doing that harms the students it is the responsibility of the school to stop that thing the police have a coffee with the police on the street where they'll go in front of the store and um mike philbrick will get out there and talk to people on the street how do you extend that to children that that that reach out of the police and as a non-threatening presence how should that how would you counsel parents to get your kids to get a positive view of the police department as protectors and friends i have no answer to that question and i don't believe i don't believe i think we should absolutely as a society and as a community and as a town and as a city be having these conversations about the role of the police and in my experience our police have been in incredibly valuable members of those conversations and very willing to have those conversations chief pete has been outstanding in his engagement with the community and defining the role and his role and the role of his department in this community um this however this is i mean this question is hundreds of years old it is not the responsibility of the school board or of our schools to solve it on behalf of the police or on behalf of the city for that matter the responsibility of the school board is the education of the students and their well-being and their ability to take full advantage of that education um so if like these additional responsibilities and levels of engagement and conversations are important um we should not engage in them engage we should not do anything that compromises the student education we have community-based learning in the high school where the kids are if you're going to graduate from Montpelier high school odds are that you've been out in the community involved in in Matt McClain's program for community-based education where we put our students as active members of the community yes tremendously important again i come back and ask that question you know the policing and the fire department are part of the core of the community and when and that particular program i am guessing encounters other public servants and other modes of community service in its engagement with the community and that engagement is important and those dialogues are important and understanding respective responsibilities are important we have an equity committee on this social equity committee on the board yes are you familiar with that i am yes how do you see yourself vis-a-vis that committee if you were sitting on that committee what would you be what would be your priority be on that committee i have done similar work before i've done advocacy work here at the college um do we have a social equity problem in our schools right now their short answer yes always we we have equity we have equity problems um as a nation we have um we have there are a number of power dynamics that are always at play and should always be examined um what would be a social equity issue in our schools when i our son just pick one well when our son went to Montpelier high school and yeah the gay straight coalition or club or whatever it was which was alive and thriving 10 or 12 years ago what what are social equity issues i maybe i'm just old-fashioned maybe i'm stuck 10 or 12 years ago in in our school district but we were addressing those a decade ago well it's never this kind of work is never done i mean it's never done what what are what's an issue right now that's pressing oh well there's a social equity concern okay um oh god what isn't i mean there's there's always questions of economic equity i mean there's always again i transcend the school always it transcends the school but it affects the school and it affects student access to education like if um so anything anything if you're doing you know if you're doing a field trip if you're doing a book drive if you're you know scholastic is has their their little catalog and kids are buying books um any any of the things that that happen at a school where um there will be families who think nothing of giving their kids five dollars to have access to this thing and there are families for whom that maybe a much more significant ask or significant barrier where um where a random five dollars is not lying around to um to buy usually one of the things that isn't actually books uh when there's when there's a book drive um i mean that is um that is an equity issue that's an economic equity issue that's and in general um and this is not like there's no there's no no villainy to this it's just oversight in general people who are making decisions who are getting involved from the community um by and large tend to be economically well off because there's spare time to volunteer for things absolutely and we have tremendous parent volunteer we do our schools we do it's tremendous and it's great and it's it's the involvement and the community commitment to it is fantastic there is usually i mean if you're working three jobs you might have less time to volunteer for a thing um so it is then incumbent upon whoever is making those decisions and those structural decisions about what we bring to the school how students are able to participate in it um it might not occur to whoever is making those decisions that five dollars is going to be a big deal okay i can see so they have to think in terms of equity you have to challenge yourself to think in terms of the barriers that you yourself don't necessarily experience and that includes um it that includes any kind of power dynamic that includes um dynamics of race and gender that includes um dynamics of many genders um that includes and so i mean the the gsa continues to be alive and thriving what is gsa it was formerly the gay straight alliance it's now the one that my son yeah yeah it's now the the gender and sexuality exactly alliance is um so it's no longer binary so it's no longer gay straight alliance is the gender and sexuality spectrum um and constellation of of uh of student experiences and student needs and this you have to be aware of these you have to be aware of these from specifically an equity lens because any one of us isn't necessarily going to notice where um a particular part of the community or engagement with the schools or access to education um has been compromised or denied either deliberately due to the biases of the past or present or just accidentally or as an oversight um those it's always there to be addressed and corrected right now we have 14 kids at the votex center okay is that an equity issue for blue collar parents that so few kids are accessing direct lines to blue collar careers that might pay well and that lead to votex colleges potentially we should check it's just curious guess um it is and and it's and and my answer is serious i don't um my answer is that i don't know enough to answer the question but i think it's an important question and i think it's a question that should always be there as we look at the structure and dynamics of the schools um what what are the equity issues that we haven't even noticed yet um and that's why the social equity committee is doing that work people to come to that committee and address their concerns exactly so the board is listening exactly they may i mean they're not the nature of that committee isn't to have those answers um already the like the the work is to find what are the questions we haven't even asked yet and that feeds into into the vision committee yes how we would like to see our district envision itself yes where do we where do we go from here well i know where we go to here we go to the end of the show thank you so much will for appearing with me and for going over a broad range of topics you never dreamed you would discuss and uh thank you for watching the show and i would hope that everyone who watches this will get out and vote oh yes i'm not talking about town meeting day i'm talking about before return the ballot but if you haven't returned the ballot march first is town meeting day watch the other shows and listen to the candidates and listen to the liby talk about the school budget and listen to mayor talk about the city budget and get out and vote and thank you very much good evening